Translation from Yiddish

Throughout his life, Singer wrote almost exclusively in Yiddish. As Yiddish is still spoken by only a relatively small number of people, most readers are acquainted with his work in translation. Later in his life, as he became more comfortable with his own command of English, Singer often translated his Yiddish stories into an English rough draft, and then worked with another translator on the details of the translation. This story retains only one phrase from the original Yiddish; when Black Dobbe appears before Dr. Fischelson in a silk nightgown on their wedding night, she says, "Mazel tov." This is a Yiddish phrase usually spoken on holidays and celebrations.

Narration

The narration is third person, meaning the narrator is not a character in the story, but is "restricted," rather than "omniscient," meaning that the events of the story are primarily told from the perspective of the...